Wick-raiser for lamps.



No. 763,776. PATENTED JUNE 28, 1904.

J. MIDDA'UGH. WIGK'RAISBR FOR LAMPS.

APPLICATION FILED OUT. 3 1903. N0 MODEL.

5 mum Him gm s m zddau h.

Strum;

UNITED STATES Patented June 28, 1904.

PAT NT OFFICE.

JAMES MIDDAUGH, OF DENNISON, OHIO, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO HENRY HESS, OF NEWOOMERSTOWN, OHIO.

WlCK-RAISER FOR LAMPS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters latent No. 763,776, dated June 28, 1904.

Application filed October a, 1903.

To all whom it may concern:

Be itknown thatI, JAMES MIDDAUGH, acitizen of the United States, residing at Dennison, in the county of Tuscarawas and State of Ohio, have invented new and useful Improvements in Wick-Raisers for Lamps, of which the following is a specification. I

My inventionhas relation to new and useful improvements in wick raisers for lamps, and more especially to devices of that character or type as are employed in combination with the well-known forms of wick raiser shafts for the purposeof operating said shaft to raise or lower the wick to regulate the flame.

Theobject of the invention is to provide a device of the character mentioned which is especially. designed and constructed to be employed in connection with signal-lanterns of the form commonly employed by railway employees and other persons in outdoor signaling, when the lamp is more or less subject to the elements, and which will when operated serve to actuate the wickraising shaft without the necessity of removing the chimney, which exposes the flame to the wind and results in its being extinguished.

The invention consists in providing, in combination with a lamp-burner and its wickraising shaft havinga thumb-wheeL-of a rotatably-mounted element carrying an engaging member which is adapted to be moved into engagement with the thumb wheelto rotate the same, said element being provided with an operating device extending exterior to the lamp casing or body, by means of whichthe element and engaging member are operated to raise or lower the wick.

I have fully and clearly illustrated my invention in the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, and wherein Figure 1 is a view in elevation of asignallantern of Well known construction in connection with whichmy invention is shown as being employed, a portion of the lamp-body, wire guard, and chimney being broken away in order to better disclose the invention in its operative position. Fig. 2 is a detail perspective view of the invention detached from Serial No. 175,667. (No model.)

operative relation to the lantern and its wickraiser.

Referring to the drawings, 1 designates a base of a lantern comprising a circular convavo-convex plate provided with a vertical annular flange 2 of a suitable height, in which is seated and held by any suitable means a a cylindrical lamp body or casing 3, to the upper portions of which are secured the lower ends of the wires, as at 4:, of which the chim-.

hey-guard 5 is constructed, the upper ends of said guard being secured to and supporting the cap-piece or top 6 of the lantern. Supported upon the body 3 at the upper portion thereof is the lower end of the chimney '7, the upperend of which extends within the top or cap-piece, where it is held against displacement by any Well known means which will efliciently accomplish the purpose.

Arranged within the lantern-body 3 and secured to the base 1 is an oil well or reservoir 8 of anysuitable construction and is provided at its upper portion with a centrally-arranged ,burn'er 9, which is shown as being of that type employingaflat wick A, as is common in most signal-lanterns of the character shown. Ex-

' tending transversely through the burner is the shown in the drawings, forms no part of my invention, but is employed merely for the purpose of illustrating a signal-lantern of wellknown construction in connection with which my. invention is shown as applied in operative position with relation to the wick-raising means. It will be seen that in the lantern above described. the wick-raising means is located entirely within the chimney, which necessitates the removal of the chimney in order to gain access to the thumb-wheel when it is desired to adjust the wick, which exposes the flame to the force of the wind and subjects it to the liability of becoming extinguished. The attachment which I will now describe is devised for the purpose of providing for the adjustment of the wick from a point exterior to the lamp without the necessity of removing the chimney or disturbing it in its ordinary position.

Rigidly mounted upon the oil reservoir or well 8 are upper and lower brackets 13 14, provided at their end portions with verticallyarranged guides, shown as consisting of sleeves 15, which are spaced apart from each other and disposed in vertical alinement.

Rotatably arranged within the guides 15 and longitudinally slidable therethrough in a vertical direction is a rod or element 16, the upper portion of which extends upwardly to a point a short distance above the thumb-wheel of the ordinary wick-raisingmeans, where it is provided with an inwardly-projecting arm 17, which when in normal position extends over the periphery of said wheel closely adjacent to the serrated edge thereof, but not in engagement therewith. The under side of the arm 17 is formed with a sharp engaging face 18, which when the device is operated, as hereinafter described, is adapted to engage within one of the serrations formed in said wheel.

At its lower end portion below the guidesleeves the element 16 is provided with a laterally-projecting operating device, which is shown as consisting of an arm 19, which is extended from within the lantern body outwardly through an opening 20, formed in the body and flange, so that the rod or element 16 may be operated from a point exterior to the burner and without detaching or moving any of the parts of the lantern from their normal or operative positions. By means of this device 19 the element 16 may be either rotated in the guides or may be reciprocated therethrough, the slot 20 being of sufiicient length and width as to permit the free movement of said device 19 in order to accomplish both movements of the rod 16. It will be seen that by pressing the device 19 downwardly the engaging portions of the arm 17 will be moved into contact with the upper edge of the thumbwheel 12 and that by swinging said device either to the right or left the arm on the upper end of the rod 16 will be swung laterally to rotate the thumb-wheel to raise or lower the lamp-wick. As shown in the drawings, the engaging arm 17 and the operating device 19 are oppositely disposedwith relation to the rod 16, so that a movement of the device 19 to the left moves the arm 17 in the opposite direction to operate the thumb-wheel.

For the purpose of holding the engaging arm 17 normally out of position to engage the thumb-wheel, so as to prevent actuation of the wick-raiser owing to accidental movement of the device 19, I provide a simple and efi'ective means for maintaining the arm 17 a short distance above the thumb-wheel. This means consists in providing the element 16 with an annular collar or projection 21, disposed in the space between the guide-sleeves 15. Arranged on the rod 16 is a spiral expansive spring 22, one end of which abuts the collar 21 and the other of which rests against the lower guide 15, the functions of said spring being to force the rod 16 upwardly, the upward movement being limited by the collar 21 abutting the upper guide, as clearly shown.

In order to operate the complete device as shown, the operating device 19 is moved to one side or the other of the slot 20, which movement swings the engaging arm 17 in an opposite direction to take a position to one side of the vertical axis of the thumb-wheel. The device 9 is then moved downwardly, which pulls the rod 16 down in a longitudinal direction, so that the engaging face of the arm 17 is slightly below the upper surface of the thumb-wheel, when the device 19 is swung laterally, which rotates the rod 16 in the sleeves to throw the arms 17 into engagement with the periphery of the thumb-wheel, and the continued movement of the rod will rotate said wheel to actuate the wick-raiser. If one movement of the rod 16 is not suflicient to adjust the wick to the desired degree, the device 19 is released, permitting the spring 22 to throw the rod upwardly and the arm 17 out of engagement with the thumb-wheel,-

when the rod is rotated to carry the arm 17 to its initial position, from which it may be again moved to turn the thumb-wheel.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

The combination with a lamp-body having vertically disposed guides secured thereto and one arranged over the other, a burner on the body having a rotary wick-raising means, a rod vertically slidable in the said guides and having an upper inturned angular end with a lower reduced edge to engage the wick-raising means and a lower outwardly-projected angular flattened foot, the rod also having a rotary movement in the guides, a spring surrounding the rods between theguides and connected at one terminal to said rod, and an inclosure for the said body having an elongated slot therein through which the flattened foot at the lower end of the rod projects.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

JAMES MIDDAUGH.

Witnesses:

J. H. J OHNSON, WILSON INSKEEP. 

